wv wrote:

I guess what i like best about this team is the balance, we have all been talking about. Good offense. Good defense. Good special teams.

I mean that is soooooo important. Sooner or later a great playoff run is going to include going up against…oh, a team like the 99 Tampa Bay Bucs. A team that WILL shut down your offense. And to win a game like that ya need — a good defense, and good special teams.

Ya know.

This team looks like its shaping up to be able to win in various ways. High scoring or low scoring.

Another interesting thing about this team is it has never once really laid an egg.
I dunno what that means. Does that mean something?

w
v

Uh…Rams are mammals.

It’s Nittany’s job to say that, but he’s probably drunk in a gutter somewhere.

“The Rams have the NFL’s fourth-hardest remaining schedule these last four weeks, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, which compiles the rankings based on opponents’ win percentages. The Seahawks are eighth, the Saints are 20th, the Eagles are 21st, and the Vikings are 24th.”

from Alden Gonzalez http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/36718/sean-mcvay-on-eagles-rams-this-is-what-you-love-about-the-nfl

And…as my son points out…that INCLUDES THE 9ers!

Which probably makes the upcoming three game stretch the worst in football.

From John Breech at CBS: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-14-picks-falcons-stun-saints-chiefs-roll-raiders-in-afc-west-showdown/

Philadelphia (10-2) at L.A. Rams (9-3), 4:25 p.m. ET (Fox): While I was eating some avocado toast over the weekend, I made a list of all the teams the Eagles have beaten this season that currently have a winning record.

Here’s the list: Carolina.

That’s it. That’s the entire list.

(I also made a list of the five best places to get avocado toast, but you’ll have to read my book, The Five Best Places to get Avocado Toast, if you want that kind of information. Also, that’s not an actual book yet, but it might be soon)

Anyway, I can’t stop thinking about the fact that the Eagles have only beaten one team with a winning record. Now, I’m not trying insult the Eagles, because 10 wins is 10 wins and it’s not like they get to make their own schedule, but I am saying that I can’t in good faith pick the Eagles to win a game against a good team, especially on the road and especially after what happened in Seattle on Sunday.

Also, Sean McVay was the offensive coordinator for a Redskins team that went 2-0 against the Eagles last season. Why does that matter, you ask? Because McVay is a millennial and millennial’s like avocado toast and that probably means he’ll buy my book. Also, it means McVay is familiar with how to exploit the Eagles’ defense, which is what I expect to happen.

The pick: Rams 30-27 over Eagles

nittany ram wrote:

Zooey wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

I think there’s a very good chance the Rams will be a wildcard team

Is that supposed to be pessimistic, or optimistic?

Realistic.

Hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think the Rams will beat the Eagles or the Seahawks in Seattle.

But they should beat the Titans and 9ers to finish 11-5.

That probably means a wildcard spot.

You, sir, are full of poo poo.

Why do you think they will lose to the Eagles? The Eagles have beaten only two teams (Panthers 4-1 and Redskins 3-2) who had a winning record when they played them. Every other team was .500 or worse.

Could it be…the Eagles have played a soft schedule?

And the Rams completely outplayed the Seahawks, but for 5 turnovers. Which is a bit…fluky, you have to admit. And if Gurley’s fumble had not flicked the pylon, or Kupp had caught the pass on the final play of the game, the Rams would be solidly in first place right now.

They beat the Saints pretty solidly.

The team has quality in all three units: offense, defense, special teams. And they are well-coached. Everybody is on the same page. They are a team that is taking it “one game at a time.” No bravado. No despondency. They are better than the Seahawks. More consistent. Better.

As for the Eagles…we shall see.

But I (a true Rams fan) am not fearful of the future. I believe the Seahawks could very well lose in Jacksonville this coming Sunday, and the Rams can beat the Philadelphia Eagles at home.

Two games up. Three games to play.

That is where we will be one week from tonight.

Choose your weapon….

I just keep thinking about retiring somewhere else. And I’m not even close to being able to retire, but if I retire to a 3rd world country, I will be able to do it sooner. And I’m willing to do that. I’ve just had it here.

This country is just too god-damned ignorant, arrogant, and greedy. And nobody knew our politics could become even more debased, but the narcissist-in-chief has made our nation a global Jerry Springer show. And 1/3 of the country seems just fine with that, and another 1/3 may not like it, but still believe this world is a better alternative to the Clinton version of the world. And the corporatists and politicians and National Security/Intelligence/FBI Deep State have basically succeeded in dismantling meaningful democracy…possibly permanently. And…OMG…racism is back out of the closet with many Americans believing that BLM is a hate group, and that blacks have a crime-strand on their DNA that justifies police brutality, and poor people really suck and deserve to be poor, and universal health care costs too much, and education is brainwashing, and on and on. I just don’t know if staying here is consistent with mental health. I am really just at the end. It was bad enough living through Bush, but there was still SOME hope that we could still live in some kind of peaceful, if lopsided, corporatocracy, but the blatant liars and kleptomaniacs have become unchained and completely unaccountable.

I mean…my god…Mueller is the last hope for this place, and I’m not buying stock in his investigation. He could lock up the entire administration, and Robert and Rebekah Mercer, and the Koch brothers will still be out their with Breitbart and Jones and Limbaugh and FOX fucking the place over with their billions of deranged schemes. Montgomery Burns is running the country now.

Yeah, I’m not happy about a Seahawks win at all. That makes the next two games that much bigger for the Rams. Jacksonville could make up for this, though, and an Eagles’ loss is a good thing, as ER points out.

Most of the country gets Carolina/New Orleans…which is a good game.

A few people get the Rams/Cardinals.

I get Raiders/Giants. Lucky me. The worst game in the time slot; one of the worst games of the day.

We owe somebody gratitude.

wv wrote:

To me its always McV-Wade. Like with DV-Martz. Its the combo.

And why in the hell Denver let Wade walk away is beyond me.

The Rams got big breaks with other teams stupidity:
Buffalo, Cincy and Denver all made bonehead mistakes imho.

Whitworth, Watson/Woods, Wade.

w
v

Yes, it’s the entire package. McVay is the heart of it. He just is. Everybody says so. These other guys, though, are indispensable. Whitworth, Watkins, Woods, Wade. The Four Ws.

Would Fisher have done as well with those 4? I don’t think he would have.

Best coaching hire since Vermeil.

8 out of 9 came from bears.

What about the other one, hmmm?

TSRF wrote:

Hey, Herzog, not sure what you mean by this:

“The Patriots most likely have been doing this for years.”

If you mean cheating, then I wholeheartedly agree!

Personally, I think this is much ado about nothing. I am guessing what Herzog means is that teams that seek competitive advantages have already thought of this, and been doing this, and the Patriots are exactly the kind of team that would do this. But he can speak for himself.

I am going to guess that there is nothing unusual about what the Rams are doing. I bet communication about what the coach sees ahead of the cutoff point is communicated frequently. I think the only difference is that the Rams seem to break the huddle more quickly to consciously allow for more time for those observations whereas most other teams have just let the game unfold at a more natural pace. In other words, the Rams have been a bit more proactive in taking advantage of this technical possibility than other teams, but other teams have been doing it, too. And someone noticed the Rams faster approach – which isn’t the same as a “hurry up” offense – and asked what was up with that, and found out. So it became a story.

I just don’t think it’s a “real” story. It’s a minor thing that everybody is doing, but the Rams are a doing it a little bit more, on purpose. But that’s a guess.

I don’t understand all the hand-wringing over this.

I am hearing all kinds of sackcloth and ashes, and that the coach is finished now, and How Dare They, and so forth.

What I’m not hearing is any discussion of how Manning has performed this year, or how this change might fit the Giants’ needs going forward. I mean…nobody is talking about that. It’s all about how this is a disgrace, and about what Manning “deserves,” and how it could have been handled better, and all that crap.

So all I get from that is that the media types (who obviously center around New York in their emphasis) love Manning for being the QB of Record in two winning Super Bowls, and they are all broken up about the end of an era during a terrible season in which the Giants suck out loud.

Now, I know the Giants have had bad injuries which have absolutely affected Manning’s performance. But. I’m not hearing anybody argue that his performance is good under the circumstances. Or anything LIKE that.

Just that this is awful, and Poor Eli, and blah, blah, blah.

Herzog wrote:

But I feel it’s stupid to say it’s cheating. Like REALLY stupid. My guess is that most offensive coordinators aren’t smart enough to do what Mcvay is doing. Even if they tried. The Patriots most likely have been doing this for years.

Cheating isn’t the word. There is no word for what Simms is trying to say. He also tried the word “unethical,” but that isn’t precise, either.

It’s just not cricket. It’s not sporting. It violates the British unspoken rules of conduct.

I get what he means, like I said. I just don’t think his opinion means anything. There may be other people who share it, too, but unless the rules committee decides to care, it’s a non-issue.

I see what Simms is saying, but I don’t care. I liked when QBs called their own plays. I also don’t like the Designated Hitter. And I think ejecting Marty McSorley for a curved stick was whack. But those is the rules.

If the technology is there, it’s going to get used. You cannot regulate what is said. If the league doesn’t like it, they can eliminate the headsets altogether, or change the cutoff moment to when the huddle breaks. My guess is that more teams will just start doing it. But I don’t care.

I mean…once they went to headsets and ipads and cameras in the sky and whatever…teams are going to use it to their advantage. Whatever.

Well…yeah.